Pilot feigns airplane trouble to mask proposal

Marriage proposals have a long history of being unique and memorable occasions. But a pilot in Chicago took his effort to pop the question to new heights when he pretended his small airplane was about to crash to mask his engagement pitch.

The New York Daily News reported that Ryan Thompson took his girlfriend, Carlie, up for a romantic flight over the city. As they were flying, he told her that the plane's controls were not responding and asked her to read aloud from a sheet containing emergency procedures.

In a hidden camera video of the event posted by Thompson to YouTube entitled "In Descent Proposal," Carlie is shown reading from the mock procedures, "The checklist is complete … and it says the rings may be engaged … and to initiate the ring engagement procedure. Will you marry me?" she said.

Thompson is then shown regaining control of the aircraft as it dawns on her that there was no emergency and that she has been proposed to.

The couple is shown embracing in the air and on the ground once she gives him a frazzled "yes" response.

It's unclear what potentially deadly stunts he may have planned for their actual nuptial ceremony.